View the stars, Saturn at Bowman Observatory

Updated 8:01 pm, Tuesday, June 30, 2015

The Moon is one of the heavenly bodies on view at the Bowman Observatory during its regular monthly public viewings.

The Moon is one of the heavenly bodies on view at the Bowman Observatory during its regular monthly public viewings.

Photo: Contributed / Contributed Photo

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Cassini spied just as many regular, faint clumps in Saturn's narrow F ring, like those pictured here, as Voyager did, but it saw hardly any of the long, bright clumps that were common in Voyager images.

Saturn's narrow, chaotic and clumpy F ring. A recent NASA-funded study compared the F ring's appearance in six years of observations by the Cassini mission to its appearance during the Saturn flybys of NASA's Voyager mission, 30 years earlier. The study team found that, while the overall number of clumps in the F ring remained the same, the number of exceptionally bright clumps of material plummeted during that time. While the Voyagers saw two or three bright clumps in any given observation, Cassini spied only two of the features during a six-year period. What physical processes, they wondered, could cause only the brightest of these features to decline sharply?

While a variety of features in Saturn's many rings display marked changes over multiple years, the F ring seems to change on a scale of days, and even hours. Trying to work out what is responsible for the ring's tumultuous behavior is a major goal for ring scientists working on Cassini. less

Cassini spied just as many regular, faint clumps in Saturn's narrow F ring, like those pictured here, as Voyager did, but it saw hardly any of the long, bright clumps that were common in Voyager images.

A map of Saturn's F ring from 2006 shows one of the few bright, extended clumps (indicated by a green box) seen during six years of observation by Cassini.

A map of Saturn's F ring from 2006 shows one of the few bright, extended clumps (indicated by a green box) seen during six years of observation by Cassini.

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

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Nature is often more complex and wonderful than it first appears. For example, although it looks like a simple hexagon, this feature surrounding Saturn's north pole is really a manifestation of a meandering polar jet stream. Scientists are still working to understand more about its origin and behavior.

This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 33 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken in red light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 24, 2013.
The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 605,000 miles (973,000 kilometers) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 19 degrees. Image scale is 36 miles (58 kilometers) per pixel.

Nature is often more complex and wonderful than it first appears. For example, although it looks like a simple hexagon, this feature surrounding Saturn's north pole is really a manifestation of a meandering

Like a drop of dew hanging on a leaf, Tethys appears to be stuck to the A and F rings from this perspective.
Tethys (660 miles, or 1,062 kilometers across), like the ring particles, is composed primarily of ice.

The gap in the A ring through which Tethys is visible is the Keeler gap, which is kept clear by the small moon Daphnis (not visible here).

This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Tethys. North on Tethys is up and rotated 43 degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 14, 2014.

The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from Tethys and at a Sun-Tethys-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 22 degrees. Image scale is 7 miles (11 kilometers) per pixel.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

Like a drop of dew hanging on a leaf, Tethys appears to be stuck to the A and F rings from this perspective. Tethys (660 miles, or 1,062 kilometers across), like the ring particles, is composed primarily of

These two views of Saturn's moon Titan show the southern polar vortex, a huge, swirling cloud that was first observed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in 2012.

Scientists analyzing data from NASA's Cassini mission have discovered that a giant, toxic cloud is hovering over the south pole of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, after the atmosphere there cooled dramatically.

The scientists found that this giant polar vortex contains frozen particles of the toxic compound hydrogen cyanide, or HCN.

NASA caption: These three images, created from Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, show the appearance and evolution of a mysterious feature in Ligeia Mare, one of the largest hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's moon Titan. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell)

NASA caption: These three images, created from Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, show the appearance and evolution of a mysterious feature in Ligeia Mare, one of the largest hydrocarbon seas on

This artist's rendering shows a cross-section of the surface and subsurface of Saturn's moon Titan, with a possible model for the structure of underground liquid reservoirs there.

Hundreds of lakes and seas are spread across the surface of Saturn's moon Titan -- its northern polar region in particular. These lakes are filled with hydrocarbons, a form of organic compound that is also found naturally on Earth and includes methane.

While most of the liquid in the lakes is thought to be replenished by rainfall from clouds in Titan's atmosphere, the cycling of liquid between the subsurface, surface and atmosphere is still not well understood.

Although all four giant planets have ring systems, Saturn's is by far the most massive and impressive. Scientists are trying to understand why by studying how the rings have formed and how they have evolved over time.

Also seen in this image is Saturn's famous north polar vortex and hexagon.

Pan (17 miles, or 28 kilometers across) maintains the Encke Gap in Saturn's A ring by gravitationally nudging the ring particles back into the rings when they stray in the gap. Scientists think similar processes might be at work as forming planets clear gaps in the circumstellar disks from which they form.

As if trying to get our attention, Mimas is positioned against the shadow of Saturn's rings, bright on dark. As we near summer in Saturn's northern hemisphere, the rings cast ever larger shadows on the planet.

With a reflectivity of about 96 percent, Mimas (246 miles, or 396 kilometers across) appears bright against the less-reflective Saturn.

As if trying to get our attention, Mimas is positioned against the shadow of Saturn's rings, bright on dark. As we near summer in Saturn's northern hemisphere, the rings cast ever larger shadows on the planet.

The Cassini spacecraft captures a rare family photo of three of Saturn's moons that couldn't be more different from each other! As the largest of the three, Tethys (image center) is round and has a variety of terrains across its surface. Meanwhile, Hyperion (to the upper-left of Tethys) is the "wild one" with a chaotic spin and Prometheus (lower-left) is a tiny moon that busies itself sculpting the F ring.

The Cassini spacecraft captures a rare family photo of three of Saturn's moons that couldn't be more different from each other! As the largest of the three, Tethys (image center) is round and has a variety of

This dramatic view looks across the region of Enceladus' geyser basin and down on the ends of the Baghdad and Damascus fractures that face Saturn. The image, which looks approximately in the direction of Saturn, was taken from a more elevated viewpoint than other Cassini survey images of this area of the moon's south pole.

The geysering segments of the fractures seen here are among the most active and warmest in the whole region. As seen from the spacecraft from an elevation angle of 25 degrees south, the jets are projected against the bright surface as opposed to black sky. Consequently, despite the pronounced activity, the jets appear fuzzy, or indistinct, in this image and their tilts are consequently not measurable.

This dramatic view looks across the region of Enceladus' geyser basin and down on the ends of the Baghdad and Damascus fractures that face Saturn. The image, which looks approximately in the direction of

Billions of years ago, a moon shattered under a planet’s gravitational pull. The fragments of ice and rock, some the size of a coin, others the size of a house, encircled the planet.

The result was Saturn and its many rings.

“If you wanted to invent a planet, I don’t think you could invent one like Saturn…Saturn is the queen of planets because it’s so beautiful. Just to think that a planet has this ring system orbiting it, it’s kind of strange that it even happened,” said Rick Bria, vice president of the Astronomical Society of Greenwich.

The brightest star in the sky had been Jupiter, but it has been on the wane since February, Bria said. Now, Saturn is taking a more prominent place at night.

For those interested in a closer look at Saturn and other elements of outer space, the society will host a free, public viewing with its new telescope from 9 to 11 p.m. Wednesday at the Bowman Observatory on the Julian Curtiss School grounds. There are free viewing sessions the first and third Wednesday of every month, weather permitting.

The new telescope allows for a view of outer space that could be difficult to find in other observatories. Called a Ritchey-Chretien, the 16-inch diameter telescope shows the craters and mountains of the Earth’s moon and six of Saturn’s 60 moons, which look like little, twinkling stars dotting the planet’s perimeter.

“It’s what we call class glass,” said Bria, referring to the telescope’s high-class reflector, which clarifies and brightens the view 50 percent better than the society’s previous telescope.

With one eye to the telescope, Bria said, visitors can view a variety of phenomenon: Saturn, the moon, nebulae, gas clouds and stars—some being born, others dying.

Bria said it’s important to look at the things outside of the Earth to learn more about what’s happening on the Earth.

“It’s a fresh perspective, looking at what we are doing here, how we are as a people. Where can we make changes? Where are we good, where are we bad? Think of the wars we’ve had, how we got here,” said Bria. “It’s all kind of strange when you think about Earth as a planet, with people just trying to advance their technology, knowledge, intelligence.”

The Astronomical Society has run the Bowman Observatory since 1968.

The new telescope rests in the middle of a domed room where a 32-inch screen hangs on the wall to show videos on the formation of Earth’s moon. The screen also includes images Bria uses to suggest things to look at through the telescope.

Bria said those who are planning to attend should check the weather first. If the sky is overcast and no stars are visible, chances are the event will be canceled. People can find out about potential cancellations by emailing greenwichstars@gmail.com. An astronomer’s forecast is also available on the website.

The society plans to host Sidewalk Astronomy on the Avenue, where members bring out the telescope to Greenwich Avenue at sunset on July 25, August 22 and September 19.

Bria said looking up at the stars is important: “We’ve got to remember we’re not on a flat earth, we’re on a ball circulating a star. We’re in astronomy, we don’t look out on it, we’re in it.”